BELLEVILLE, IL (AP) - A university in southwestern Illinois that's making its leap into college football this fall has tackled how to make its program instantly unique with a new turf that's drawing some ridicule.

The Lynx's new field is part of a $2.3 million stadium renovation and makes the NAIA program among just a few college football schools nationwide with turf that's a departure from the traditional green.

That's not sitting well with a Yahoo! Sports columnist, who this week called the colors she likened to a flattened-out barber pole "an abomination to the game."

The campus' vice president, Jerry Bladdick, says he finds the criticism amusing and calls the new field "our way of coming into our own."

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